Liberation Posted May 24, 2018 https://www.piretrogaming.net/ Anyone now much about this? Is it any good or a bit of a con etc. No Atari jaguar support yet it seems, so no AvP. That kinda putting me off. Also no doom games.... 0 Share this post Link to post
Barry Burton Posted May 24, 2018 (edited) Just looking quick at the website, I see the "epic retro console" for $227, or 170 pounds. It comes with two off-brand PS3 style controllers, a keyboard and mouse, and a Raspberry Pi 3 in a cheap case. All this little system is, is the RetroPie operating system running on a raspberry Pi 3 board, with a pre-flashed image so the games are on there already. Those two controllers are probably very cheap and won't result in a very good gaming experience. If you build your own, you can buy original controllers and then use controller adapters or even mod the controller to be USB. You could build your own and learn a thing or two for much cheaper. For $150, I built my own RetroPie console that loads games off a USB drive, has achievements for said games thanks to Retro Achievements, and uses the original console controllers. It plays adventure games made with AGS, ScummVM games, Quake1/2/3, Doom, Duke3D, Cave Story, as well as pretty much any retro console or computer, including PC-98. The problem with these pre-built retro consoles is that at the end of the day, it's still running RetroPie, and eventually something is not going to work and you will have to do some configuring, which in my experience is pretty daunting considering that you must use RetroArch and deal with how it handles configs for each emulator. Also, your mileage will vary depending on the emulator. N64 emulation is already a mixed bag, and even after overclocking the Pi 3 it's still very mixed. Dreamcast and PSP are hardly working, along with Sega Saturn. I can't speak for Jaguar, but you may be able to install a libretro core through RetroPie's "experimental" section. TL;DR: There are better deals. You should just build your own. EDIT: I see there are actually ODroid boards lol. They're plenty powerful, but not worth $160 seeing as they go for almost $80 without a cheap case.. Another downside is that RetroPie is not as actively supported on ODroid boards as compared to the Raspberry Pi 3. In any event, I would still get better controllers. If you have Xbox 360 or PS3 controllers, there are driver packages to allow pairing these to the board, which would be infinitely superior to knock offs. Edited May 24, 2018 by R4L 1 Share this post Link to post
Liberation Posted May 24, 2018 (edited) Hey @R4L Yeah I'm not sure myself really, I did just speak to them about Jaguar support and they said no chance, they can't get it working. That is a bit of a bummer (I do own a jaguar but that's not the point). Atari ST support is kind of interesting me, loads of good memories and I have my own ps3 controllers anyway. Not sure I wanna take the plunge and do it myself like you have though. Also to note I asked about adding substation (ST game) and the chap said "yeah if you want", lol. 0 Share this post Link to post
Barry Burton Posted May 24, 2018 (edited) Haha! "Sure, I can download that ROM and transfer it over, I guess." They're correct about Jaguar support. It's an experimental RetroArch core, and even on an overclocked Pi 3, no titles are playable. While you don't have to build a system, you can still find much better prices on pre-built systems. The mark up on these things is crazy, but I can understand why. These "retro consoles" are popular now, and not many people know how or have interest in learning how to make them on their own. 0 Share this post Link to post
Dragonfly Posted May 24, 2018 You can emulate Atari Jaguar on pi, definitely. My fiancee's father (father in law to be? idk how to best word that.) has built his own arcade gaming cabinet using a raspberry Pi, some buttons, some sheets of wood and an old screen. Pretty sure it runs on RetroPie or some other similar all-in-one emulation solution as far as I recall. Pic of it in action: 2 Share this post Link to post
Barry Burton Posted May 24, 2018 4 minutes ago, Dragonfly said: You can emulate Atari Jaguar on pi, definitely. My fiancee's father (father in law to be? idk how to best word that.) has built his own arcade gaming cabinet using a raspberry Pi, some buttons, some sheets of wood and an old screen. Pretty sure it runs on RetroPie or some other similar all-in-one emulation solution as far as I recall. Pic of it in action: I wanted to build one of these cabs! Looks like he did a great job! As far as Jaguar emulation, unless the wiki is wrong, it's possible but definitely not playable. 1 Share this post Link to post
Dragonfly Posted May 24, 2018 Fair enough, I may have assumed too much there. It's not a system I would have personally tried to emulate! 0 Share this post Link to post
Barry Burton Posted May 24, 2018 13 minutes ago, Dragonfly said: Fair enough, I may have assumed too much there. It's not a system I would have personally tried to emulate! Same here. It's understandable why it's not properly emulated. Just like the Saturn, it wasn't a very popular console. Even worse, it has complex architecture like the Saturn. 1 Share this post Link to post
LouigiVerona Posted May 24, 2018 I also built my own RetroPie. It's actually much easier than it seems. The instructions online are very clear. You go to the RetroPie website and follow simple instructions. I did it twice - and each time it took me less than an hour to do everything. In fact, less than 30 minutes. 2 Share this post Link to post
DeadAstronaut Posted May 24, 2018 I've bought a few retro console ports, but not from this company. Their supreme handheld is quite tempting. 0 Share this post Link to post
Liberation Posted May 24, 2018 (edited) Ok, so basically these are pre-built mini consoles with raspberry boards etc that are filled with "abandonware" roms. I have read into the Jaguar over the years being a fan and all, from what I've read the 64bit stuff wasn't really 64bit and the coding/architecture/effort required put a lot of game companies off, so I guess the same problem still applies today. 2 hours ago, Dragonfly said: That is very smart indeed! 1 hour ago, Dragonfly said: Fair enough, I may have assumed too much there. It's not a system I would have personally tried to emulate! You haven't played jaguar AvP then :-) Well, it was good for its time... 1 Share this post Link to post
Gluc Posted June 20, 2019 I would not buy off this company ppl are still waiting 6 months for there console, they ran into financial trouble and are still trading and taking orders when they cant fulfill old ones , check the reviews on trust pilot, just a heads up to everyone. 0 Share this post Link to post
Dragonfly Posted June 20, 2019 Interesting you joined a forum to revive a year old thread for that. Got a bit of a grudge going on with the company in question, eh? 1 Share this post Link to post
Gluc Posted September 12, 2019 Not really just warning ppl but if you want to wait 7 months , that's up to as a customer of theres I should know from personal experience. 0 Share this post Link to post
